Salmon & Downriggers- Tackle Recommendations

[Traxion]

After doing some salmon fishing in Alaska last summer I have gotten some interest in chasing them on Lake Oahe. Seems to be some guys on here that chase them on Sak so figured I could get some advice on tackle. I've acquired a two downriggers and mounts for the boat for basically nothing. Am currently working on rigging them up. Have 12# downrigger balls. Additionally, I have two 9' downrigger rods with counters. I also have several excess 9' planer board rods that I may use as secondary rods (either for stacked setups on the riggers or dipsey setups).

My main questions revolve around setups from the downrigger ball back. I could ask a million questions but just general setups of what you've had success with. Snubbers Y/N, flashers & dodgers (color & size), spoons and livebait setups, leader lengths, etc.

I am not looking to go all out into this. I plan to do it a few weekends in late summer to fill the lull and change things up. We also have a lake trout fishery in my area that I could use the setups for as well. Just looking for some advice on where to start and what are some reliable starting setups.

 

[Hookin8easy]

Curious to see what kind of info shows up here myself. This will be my 3rd season w riggers, I've read so many different things about the trolling for salmon. Last 2 years I've gotten a few but nothing consistent. Trays full of flashers, flies, squid, spoons, even 1 1/4 oz vertical jigs. Much of the info I've found is for completely different fisheries and trying to figure out what works day to day is a trick. I've been running 34" leads on 11" flashers, 24" on 8" flashers-it's what the most common info states, tied w 40-60# mono, I stack on my riggers but am going to give dipsy divers a try for more spread and run 3ways off with a spoon high and a crank low, tough for me to get enough gear in the water with the smaller boat, I've heard some say that if you run herring run all of them that way.

50+ go blues, white, glow, purple, green

 

[eliminator]

First of all, I have never fished alaska, I am not an expert by any means for Salmon fishing but have been doing it for quite a few years. I fish Lake Sakakawea for Salmon among other species and do alright. It is a very fun fishing for me as it is a break from walleyes and pike etc. I tie most all of my hook setups for use with squid and needlefish and herring and mini squid. I have been told that about 18 to 24 inch is the norm but I do vary mine and mostly seem to stick with about a 2-4 foot leader behind flashers---I don't vary them from the big flashers to the small----I use flashers from about 4 inch all the way to the large 11 inch ones. I guess I just keep changing setups until I hopefully find something that is working that particular day. When I use herring, which I do quite a bit, i use a similar length lead but most of the time I fish herring with a herring hood naked(no flasher or dodger with it) and like it that way the best. It is a lot more fun catching salmon without the flasher/dodger as you are fighting the fish and not the equipment.
The best thing I can tell you is to keep trying different setups and over time you will find what works for you in your area.
I also like the Salmon Decoys that are available----it seems on some days that is the difference in catching and not. Maybe just in my head but you need to fish what you have confidence in.

I hope some of this makes sense to you---like I said, I am not an expert but do catch some salmon and it is a lot of fun.

 

[NJL]

well, i've done a fair bit of salmon fishing over my career; however, last year was my first time on Sak. I tried everything i knew from fishing Michigan and was only able to conjure up 1 fish. Off the down riggers, I primarily run Coyote/Hotspot flashers with a Howie Fly (or plastic squid) on a 30-36" 40lb fluoro leader, Jensen Dodger with the same, a variety of salmon trolling spoons (Proking, Dreamweaver, salmon slammer, etc), or J-plugs. Off the Dipsies, i usually run spoons or J-plugs on ~7' 20lb fluoro leader with a rubber snubber. For downrigger balls, i use 10lb fish shaped ones, although i do have the round balls as well. From what i've been told, anything bigger than 10lbs can be hard on your riggers. For fishing on Sak or Oahe i wouldn't go any smaller on the weight as you need it to keep your line as vertical as possible when down 80-100'. Like i said, i'm not sure if my setups are optimal for Sak, but they sure hammered big salmon out on Michigan all the time.

 

[Twitch]

We've mostly used flashers and squids and herring in hoods either straight or with dodgers. Haven't had the best luck on spoons or flys on Sak. We took several trips years ago to both oahe around Pierre and also out to Peck and the spoons were quite a bit better out there with success also on the above methods. At Sak we also play with how long the leaders are and also how far behind the ball we run stuff. Some days you have to run it way way back and sometimes we run it maybe only a few feet back. If you're willing to try different things the fish will tell you what to do. In years past we always used to stack lines but in the past couple years Dad went to running 4 riggers. I'm just going to be setting up a board with 2 riggers on my boat. Sounds like there could be some pretty nice salmon on Sak this year so we shall see.

 

[Hookin8easy]

Do any of you try to start at a specific water temp? I bought just the simple fishhawk to tell me temp at depth, most info I've found- from other fisheries- says 52-55 but I could have sworn that a guy I chatted with last year at sakakawea said he sets all his in 42, I always seem to show a deeper group and a brood fish say 20-30' higher in the water, I've tried to run just slightly above the lower group.

 

[Traxion]

Any recommendations on colors? Green is a must from what I've been told. I've also had guys tell me black and clear flashers can be a must have. Any of course silver/holographic.

One neat idea I've seen is running the flasher off the ball of the rigger on a short leader. Then, run your normal bait slightly up and behind, then you don't have to fight the flasher when you have a fish. Obviously only works for the lower line if you are stacking but still a cool idea.

 

[eyexer]

I fished with downriggers by the damn on sak one time. Had four on and all on J-plugs. Silver/blue if I recall

 

[eelpout]

I have also acquired a couple of downriggers and am getting set up to try it this summer/fall for Sakakawea. I'll be starting from scratch and really don't want to purchase stuff that isn't needed. What are everyone's go to combinations that are necessary to have? Obviously a few flashers by the sounds of it, but are there certain types of spoons, plugs, squid, cranks that a person should look for or stay away from?

Also, in terms of location, is most of the salmon fishing done near the dam or do guys catch them out in the main lake? What do you look for before you drop the lines down?

 

[NJL]

From what i've seen the few times i've been out is everybody fishes the bluffs between gov. bay and dead man's bay. I have yet to see anyone fishing along the face of the damn or over by the intake. My father and I went out Friday and tried for salmon from 0600-1200 and went 1 for 2. We gave up after that and moved over by mallard island, where we caught a pile of walleyes. At the cleaning station there were a couple guys that each had 1 salmon, which they said they didn't catch until after noon. One of the guys told us they had been out on the previous wednesday and went 4 for 9. So it seems like you just have to get lucky and pick the right day/time.